July 9, 2021: Philippine fishermen, have often ventured into storms in the China Sea, but these days there is more to fear: seeing a Chinese naval ship on the horizon.
Five years after a landmark international arbitration court ruling repudiated China’s claims to the waters where Megu fishes, a 48-year-old who complains that his encounters with Chinese boats are more frequent than ever.
Other fishermen were hit by water cannons or exploded while working on what was considered their historic fishing ground, he said. Which he hoped to preserve after the 2016 ruling in The Hague.
China has rejected the decision and stands with its claim to most of the waters within the so-called Nine Dash Line, which has also been challenged by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In just one incident in March, the Philippines complained that more than 200 Chinese militia ships had entered the Special Economic Zone (EEZ), which is 200 nautical miles off the coast. Chinese diplomats said the boats were taking refuge in rough seas and no militia was on board.
“The data here is very clear,” said Greg Poling of Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Chinese Coast Guard ships and the militia are in the Philippines’ EEZ more than they were five years ago.” A July 2020 opinion poll showed that 70% of Filipinos want the government to assert its claim in the South China Sea.
“We firmly reject attempts to undermine it; nay, even erase it from law, history and our collective memories,” Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin said in a statement last month. The country has made 128 diplomatic protests over China’s activities in contested waters since 2016, and coast guard and bureau of fisheries vessels have conducted “sovereign” patrols in the Philippines’ EEZ.
But the Philippines has done little to suppress its claims under firebrand president Rodrigo Duterte, who has planned relations with China as part of his foreign policy and has said he wants to challenge his wider neighbor. It is “useless” to try.
“China is more in control. The only thing the Duterte government can point to is they haven’t had a major incident,” Poling said. “If you just keep surrendering to the bully, of course there won’t be a fight.”
Confrontations with Vietnam have set back energy projects. Malaysia has complained about the actions of Chinese vessels. Their presence have also drawn concern in Indonesia – even though it is not technically a claimant state.
Occasional freedom of navigation operations by the U.S. Navy have challenged China’s claims but show no sign of discouraging Beijing from deploying vessels around the Philippines or elsewhere.
Before his election in 2016, Duterte had said he would stand up for his country’s claims in the South China Sea. He is due to step down at the end of his single six-year term next year, but talk that he could be vice president or be succeeded by his daughter have raised doubts that policies will change. The fishermen of Pangasinan see little hope of a challenge to the Chinese vessels that now dictate their movements.
Stay tuned to BaaghiTV for latest news and Updates!
